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Uzi was fiddling with the picture she stole from her mom’s old stuff. It was a picture of her mom and her dad.
They looked so happy…
Something bounced off the back of her head. She looked back and saw Thad snickering as he hid away.
“Asshole…” She whispered to herself.
“He’ll get what’s coming to him.” Says the voice beside her.
She looks over at Lizzy, her first friend. Despite Uzi’s outgoing nature, most of her classmates avoided her because they thought she was weird for her obsession with the disassembly drones. Lizzy had been supportive of her plan that day she left the bunker to find them, and from then on they had been friends.
Uzi noticed that Lizzy seemed to want to be more than just friends at first, which is why she was glad she seemed to show interest in J and V. She loved Lizzy, but not in that way. Besides…she had someone else in mind.
Her thoughts about him were cut short soon enough as the bus stopped. She decided to walk off the bus last, Thad snickering and flashing a wicked grin at her as he walked past. Lizzy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder before walking off as well.
When they get off the bus, the students immediately start questioning the teacher why they’re here, only to get interrupted as three figures land in front of them.
They back up upon realizing they were the trio of disassembly drones that attacked the colony, only for J to speak up.
“Hello campers! Wow, there’s so many of you! I’m so so excited to get to know you all!”
“C’mon everyone. Let’s get you all ordered just in case.” V says, “one, two…”
She points at the third one, no one daring to speak. N then shoots the third one in the head.
Everyone sounds off their numbers.
“Alright, that’s everyone!” J announces.
“Minus one.” V adds while glaring at N, who rolls his eyes.
“Now then,” J starts, “We have so many distracting things to do!”
“So no sneaking off to investigate anything weird .” V says while very obviously looking at Uzi.
The students are reluctant to follow them but Thad and Lizzy approach casually.
“Sounds ‘good’ N.” Thad says sarcastically.
“Anything for my besties!” Lizzy says enthusiastically
The rest calm down and begin following the disassembly drones.
“They’re like, my friends too. So, it’s cool…” Uzi says, but no one acknowledges. The rest of the students are too enamored with the disassembly drones and Lizzy is chatting away with J who looks very excited to meet her.
She stares at N. His camp counselor uniform was nice, the shorts revealed more of his long legs than that beautiful coat he owned. The hat also looked nice with his fluffy hair…
She just couldn’t get him out of her mind since prom. The way he looked in that suit, how he caught her after taking a hit. She vaguely remembered…no, he wasn’t blushing too was he? No, it was just the lights…
She shook her head, can’t be thinking about that right now. She made her way towards the cabins…alone.
Meanwhile, while walking, Thad has a private conversation with N.
“Little purple freak seems to have run off? Any idea why that is?” Thad asks.
“Welllll, I’m not supposed to tell you guys, but she’s looking for some stupid secret surrounding that weird Solver thing she’s got.”
“Just another reason she’s a freak…”
They snicker, though something…tugs in N’s chest.
“Wanna mess with her?” Thad offers.
“Do you have to ask?”
So the two come up with a scheme…
Uzi was watching her classmates have fun with the disassembly drones through a window of the cabin when the thirst took hold of her. Ever since prom she’s needed oil to cool herself off, and it only got worse when she was stressing (which was basically all the time now thanks to her paranoia). She was reaching into her bag to grab another limb, but the thought of eating her classmates stopped her. Then a new, even worse thought entered her mind…why would she feel bad about that?
Luckily something diverted her attention.
“Tick tock~ Oil’s running low huh?” N’s voice said from above.
“N-N? W-what’re you doing here?”
“Oh nothing, just checking on my favorite little drone. If you need oil you can just ask~” She was embarrassed by how much she liked him saying that.
She looks away. “W-well, you should probably go back to the campers…because I’m fine on oil! Totally fine, the others are probably more interesting than me any-”
She was stopped when she turned back only to find N’s face right in hers. His hot breath could be felt on her face as he placed a hand on her chin. He closed his eyes as he leaned closer to her.
Was he…was he actually going to-
The thoughts stopped as he suddenly pulled back and she felt something pour over her. She looks and sees she’s completely covered in oil.
She looks up and sees Thad holding a bucket, laughing maniacally as he jumps down.
“Awesome one N!” He says as he high fives him.
N turns to look at Uzi and sees she’s crying. His heart lurches but he keeps up the bullying.
“Oh I’m sorry, did you think I was…no, it couldn’t be? But you would be that stupid, wouldn’t you?”
Her tears come faster now and before the two bullies could say anything more, she runs off bawling.
“Hehehe! What a wimp.” Thad remarks.
N should’ve made a similar remark. He had been since he and Uzi met, but he just…couldn’t. Uzi had humiliated him, chained him to chair, and converted his teammates to the enemy’s side. He loved messing with her, but this was the first time he’d actually seen her cry. He felt…empty.
“C’mon, let’s go chase her. Maybe we can pelt her with snow-”
Thad stopped as a blade was put to his throat.
“If you try to mess with her again, I will not hesitate to rip your heart out and feed it to you.”
Thad looks at N in extreme confusion and panic. “W-what the hell bro! What’s with th-”
“If you question me or tell anyone about this, I’ll do worse than what I just told you I’d do. Understand?”
Thad nods his head rapidly.
“Good boy. Now go be with the others. I have something I need to do.”
Thad quickly ran off, stumbling as he did. N meanwhile looked to where Uzi went and extended his wings before taking off to look for her.
Uzi was running as far away as possible, locking herself in a random cabin she found.
No one cares about you.
T-that’s not true, Lizzy-
Is just using you to get close to J and V.
B-but N-
Doesn’t love you. He hates you, forever and ever. He will never love you, why did you think he did? All he ever does is bully you, like he just did. He’s no better than Thad, no better than your father.
No one will ever love you. You will be alone until you die .
That did it. That last train of thought. Why the hell did she love him? She could’ve chosen anyone, including her best friend! Why did it have to be him? Someone who hated her. Someone who constantly insulted her and tried to piss her off.
Why couldn’t she just hate him?
Something started growing as she heard glass smash around her. She should’ve been panicking about that but she couldn’t bring herself to. She just wanted to be left alone…
The students were gathered around a campfire telling spooky stories.
“They say that in these woods there’s a tall thin man with pale skin and a red hole for a face-”
“What does the hole do?”
“Goes to hell or something, I don’t know, it’s not important! Anyways, they say he eats any drone that dares come through here. According to legend, he’s a ghost of a human that used to work here who wants vengeance on us.”
“What for?”
“I’LL GET TO THAT, STOP INTERRUPTING! Anyways-”
Before the camper could continue, they all stop as they hear rustling coming from the forest. They all brace themselves before relaxing as they see a familiar drone walking towards them, constantly looking behind his shoulder.
“Hey Thad! Where have you been?”
“None of your damn business!” He looks around, “Where’s Rebecca and Darren?”
“Don’t know, they wandered off after archery. The two hotties went off looking for someone who went missing. Think they called him N or something.”
Great, they didn’t even care that he was missing, just their buddy N. He sits down and starts to relax when something round lands in his lap, covering his front in some kind of liquid.
He looks down at the object and realizes it’s a head. He drops it while screaming and looks around to see where it came from, and sees a glowing purple figure in the distance.
Oh shi-
A pair of wings grow from the figure as it begins laughing maniacally.
“Everyone s-scatter!” One of the campers cries out.
Uzi lunges at one immediately, Thad unable to see what she does to them as he runs as fast as he can into the forest. He hears the screams of his classmates getting torn apart.
He runs into a tree, getting knocked to the floor as a result. He looks up and sees Uzi on top of him, drool dripping onto his monitor.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I didn’t mean it, I’ll stop bullying you I swea-”
Uzi is violently blown away from him as he looks and sees V with a gun pointed at her.
“Not saving you, killing her.”
“W-whatever…” He says as he gets up and runs away.
“Been planning this ever since the bunker, huh Cyn?”
“J-just…leave me alone like you want to!” Uzi lunges at V and cuts her arm off, then levitates that arm and pins her to a tree with it.
V turns her other arm into a rocket launcher but Uzi stabs into her head with an arrow nearby. The explosion knocks them both back.
“Just admit it Cyn, I’ve seen you scheming since the beginning.”
“I told you, TO LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Uzi pounces on V, her tail grabbing V’s and biting off the stinger. She raises the stinger, prepared to swing it down onto V’s monitor, when a hand grabs her from behind.
“Calm down freak.” N says before Uzi jams the stinger into his hand, “Ow! Son of a- that’s it.” He tosses her into the air. He takes the stinger out and places his hand in his mouth. “Y’know,” He says to V, “she’s not really Cyn right? Just sit pretty and let me handle this.”
Uzi is freaking out while in the air but has regained her sanity. Shortly after reaching her peak height, N comes up beside her. He looks annoyed but conflicted.
Neither speaks at first, until Uzi breaks the silence. “Well, spit it out.”
“Spit what out?”
“All the hate you have for me! I know you don’t like me. I thought it was just jokes at first but I can tell you really hate me…”
N didn’t really know how to do this whole comfort thing, so he stayed silent.
Uzi continued. “I-I thought, after meeting Lizzy, that maybe I wouldn’t be alone. But the others just like you guys more. Lizzy would rather just hang out with V and J, and the other campers…” She starts sobbing again, “I-I just killed them. For what? Ignoring me?! I’m a monster…”
Every word was making fractures in N’s heart, something he thought he lost a long time ago.
Why can’t I hate you?
“Everyone’s gonna leave me now.”
“...”
“...Why do you like me?” He asks.
She looks up at him, but doesn’t say a word.
“I know you do.” He continued, “It’s pretty damn obvious. Looking at me when you think I don’t see you, calling me cute, the blushing, everything at the prom, I could go on. But why? I’ve done nothing but antagonize you since the start. I tried to kill you.”
“I-I…I thought all those things you said about me were just you being playful. It was cute, and I loved how flustered you got when I just shrugged them off. You’re adorable when you're angry.”
He glares at her, earning a soft laugh from her.
Her face turns somber again, “I thought there was a soft side to you, like V. One that cared. But now, after what you did, teaming with Thad? You’re just another bully.”
N looks ashamed.
Now she asks him a question. “Why are you doing this?”
He raises an eyebrow questioningly.
“Why didn’t you just kill me? Even if for some reason you didn’t want to do that, why are you trying to help me? You just bullied me earlier.”
That was something he was questioning since the moment he threatened Thad. Why did he care so much? He looks back at all the times he tried to piss her off. It was…nice having someone who didn’t just take his insults lying down. It started off as just insulting her, but as she started to bite back it became fun for the both of them.
He looks down at himself. He couldn’t believe the thoughts he was having.
“That was too far, what me and Thad did. He won’t be bullying you anymore just so you know.”
She looks at him in surprise. “What did you do?”
“What do you think?”
Blush appears on her face as she’s speechless.
N moves closer to her, directly across from her now. He gently pries open her wings.
“You look really cute when you blush~”
Her face grows even more purple.
“N…you don’t have to lie to-”
She’s cut off as N aggressively pulls her towards him, their lips touching. Uzi’s eyes fly open before she embraces the kiss and wraps her arms and wings around him, feeling his fluffy hair. She feels as N’s tongue enters her mouth. It was weird, but a good kind of weird. All those feelings from years starved of physical affection were being put into this kiss.
And it was perfect.
It was cut off though as the two landed in a cloud of snow. N carrying Uzi bridal style.
“Tell anyone about this and I’ll…do something.” He said, trying not to be mean about it.
Uzi looks disappointed. “But I want to tell people I love you.” She says in a soft voice.
Despite his attempts to stay cool, yellow blush appeared slightly on his visor.
“I…I just want this to be between you and me. I’m not really ready to be this… nice around other people.”
“Okay…” Uzi says as she wraps her arms around his neck. He plants a soft kiss on her forehead and grins widely at her, his eyes half lidded.
A cough catches his attention as he looks up and sees V.
“U-uhm.”
“So?” V questions.
“Hey guys!” J says as she lands. “Sorry I’m late, I was busy with the camp…ers.” She looks at N and Uzi, both looking back at them with blush on their faces. “Are you two-”
“NOPE!” He says as he tries to drop her, only to be dragged down to the floor with her as she was still holding onto his neck.
“Whatever, let’s just go home.” He says.
“What about the murders?” V questions.
“Just blame those on me, no one will care.” He offers.
Everyone was back on the bus, Uzi and N in the very back so they wouldn’t get spotted. Uzi, having been worn out from the day, was sitting on N’s lap. He tried to convince her to just lean on him but she refused.
He figured if she was gonna mess with him, he’d mess with her back.
He whispered to her, “Y’know, when we get back if you want to find somewhere private, we can continue our little session from earlier.” He places a hand on her chin and tilts it up to look at him, “Doesn’t that sound nice, baby bat~?”
“Mhmm.” She responds dreamily.
He plants a kiss on her forehead. “Good girl.”
His tail wagged slightly as he drifted off to sleep.
What a strange day…
…
But a nice one.